親愛的孩子 Dear Child English version
by huan05
Summary: "Dear Child, please remember, you will not be leaving alone. I will be with you, till the execution comes, till the moment when we could no longer exist…" Sode no Shirayuki's POV


Disclaimer: I have to write this in order to avoid from being attacked by the copyright thing, I don't own Bleach. XD

A/N: I know in the Zanpakutou's rebellion arc, Sode no Shirayuki actually called Rukia "Rukia-sama", but in this fanfic, I made her call Rukia as "Child" instead, because I think "Child" will be a more suitable term for Sode no Shirayuki to call Rukia, to symbolise their friendship between the Zanpakutou and the Shinigami.

This story is in Soul Society Arc before Rukia's execution.

Thanks people who bothered to read, review and favorited my previous fanfics! Feel free to point out the errors in the story.

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><p>Dear Child, are you still feeling sad? Are you still blaming yourself for the things that had happened?<p>

I have been resting on your lap as an ordinary sealed sword, ever since I was bought to your side by Kuchiki-taichou. I observed silently as you leaned your body beside the crevice gap on the wall, which acts like a narrow window and the only connection between you and the world outside.

Your face showed no expression, yet the sorrowful amethyst eyes of yours had betrayed your true emotions, no matter how hard you tried to keep those feelings hidden.

You gazed at the birds as they flew across the top of the Senzaikyū tower; you wished that you could fly freely like them. Sadly you could only be trapped in the prison, like a distressed jailbird. So you looked up to the sky bitterly, and laments about cruel fate that you had gone through during those years.

In the past, you had many aspirations. You wanted to prove to others that you have the capability; to become an outstanding Shinigami, to be the pride of Kuchiki family.

You knew that you have yet to qualify for a seat in Gotei 13, so you worked harder than most of the seated officers. You spent days and nights training your swordsmanship, to learn all the 3 dances of Shikai, and to call out my name so that you could see my materialised form someday.

Finally, after months of coaching from Shiba-fukutaichou, you had achieved the first 2 dances of Shikai. At that point of time, I could feel your power growing more intense upon the Shikai release, eventually I was able to materialise into human form, right before your eyes.

I would never forget the moment when you first saw me in human form. You embraced me tightly like an innocent child, praising my looks as you heard that I'm the most beautiful zanpakutou in Soul Society. You also told me that you felt really blessed to be my Shinigami partner.

Your perseverance and courage are the traits that I have been proud with. Being able to reside in your inner-world, fighting all the battles together with you, how would I not feel that my existence is such a meaningful thing?

Even those traits of yours were already dead, along with the demise of Shiba-fukutaichou, I still couldn't deny the efforts that you have been putting in during those years.

You've said before, you would never give up no matter how difficult the challenges could become.

You've said before, you would not let any obstacles to destroy your determination easily.

And you've said before, you would show to people who said nasty words behind your back that, you are definitely fit enough to be the pride of Kuchiki family.

Those things that you've said before, perhaps now you could hardly remember anymore…

Despite of this, I'm still waiting, waiting for the possibility that you might change your mind, even though the chances were slim…

The clear blue sky outside of that crevice gap had started dyeing into orange colour because of the descending sun.

Realizing that it's almost evening time, you grabbed me on your hand and stood up. Slowly, you moved yourself to the middle of this spacious prison.

Pulling me out from the scabbard gently, you pointed the blade towards the small wooden chair which is few meters away from you.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki." You called out my name, attempting to do the Shikai release.

It seemed like a lifetime ago that I've heard you calling out those words, ever since Shiba-fukutaichou's death.

But there's isn't any response from me.

Not intending to give up, you continued to hold me and remained at the same posture.

The expression in your eyes, it's no longer as melancholic as how you displayed during last few days. Instead what I could see now is the radiance that shines in your eyes; it's the same expression when you worked hard to achieve Shikai.

I could feel the strength as you were determined to do the Shikai release, it's the strength which caused me to materialise into human form that time.

"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki." You closed your eyes and called out my name again.

In the next instant, there's a few wisp of white mist coming out from my body, followed by a ray of strong light.

Within few seconds, the whole surrounding was devoured by that ray of light, leaving behind a flash of white emptiness.

Under the influence of that mysterious white light, my body had turned into a thick fog and vanishes completely.

You opened your eyes, feeling shocked as you noticed that you weren't holding anything. Puzzled by the strange phenomena, you started to look around curiously.

I appeared again, but no longer in the form of a katana. Now I'm standing in front of you, as a woman with long silver hair, wearing a white kimono.

"Dear Child, I'm here." I said softly.

You stared at me, with a deeply astonished expression. It's been long time since you last saw me in human form.

"Dear Child, it's me." I took a step forward and reached out my arms, pulling you to my embrace.

You lifted up your head and looked at me carefully. Tears began to leak out from your violet orbs as you struggled to fight against the overwhelming emotions within you.

"Sode no Shirayuki… It's you… It's really you… You didn't give up on me… Thank you… Thank you…" You tried to finish your sentence, but ended up choking speechless. And the tears just kept pouring down your face, like an unstoppable waterfall.

Dear Child, do you know that I've been waiting long for this moment? The fact is, I didn't give up on you, it's you who didn't really want to give up on yourself. Like I've said before, I'm a part of your soul, I'm a part of you who is strong-willed, and I'm a part of you who is serene and peaceful. So when your state of mind is at its most tranquil, then I will be able to materialize into human form.

You nodded your head in agreement as you had understood the meaning behind of my words.

Dear Child, as your zanpakutou, as a part of your soul, I know your strengths well. You could have become stronger, and you could have become an outstanding Shinigami like your Nii-sama. It's a pity that you didn't have enough time to fulfill your aspirations.

Yet I'm still grateful for being your zanpakutou partner, though we didn't have much chance to know each other better.

Wiping away the tearstains that still lingered on your face, you started telling me about your thoughts during those days of imprisonment. You felt that you are actually a lucky person.

Being able to endure the hardships with Abarai-fukutaichou during childhood days, being able to have a proper family because of Kuchiki-taichou's adoption, being able to learn the Shinigami skills from Shiba-fukutaichou, and being able to meet Kurosaki Ichigo and his friends in the World of Living, you are thankful to have all these things to happen in your life.

So you've decided not to feel sad, nor blaming yourself anymore. You said that you will face the execution with a calm mind. If there's any chance, you hoped that you could meet Shiba-fukutaichou somewhere, and repent your mistake to him sincerely.

The only thing that still grieved you for now is, I will be perished together with you, when the execution comes.

Silly Child, as I've said, our fates were connected, without you I would not even exist. I wanted to thank you for giving me a chance to be the most beautiful zanpakutou in everyone's eyes.

It's rare that we could actually have a heart-to-heart conversation at times like this, and the hours had passed without our notice…

Suddenly, the white light that dominated the whole surrounding starts to fade away, as well as my human form body.

But dear Child, you need not worry, I'm not disappearing, it's just that I'm reverting to my original form.

Few minutes later, the white light was nowhere to be seen, and everything was back to the normal spacious prison that you have been locked in. The sky outside of the wall crevice gap had changed its colour into raven black, symbolizing the arrival of the night.

My body starts turning into a thin wisp of mist, and dissipated into nothingness, upon the cessation of the white light.

So you heaved a sigh, and switched your vision to the trail of moonlight which had passed through the crevice gap into the prison. You saw your own petite figure reflecting on the moonlight, and you also realized that…

There's actually another figure, a sword-like figure, standing about few inches away from your shadow. You turned around, and saw me in the form of a katana. The gleaming white blade was stuck onto the ground, attached with a long white ribbon, dancing gracefully in the air.

You leaped towards me, and pulled me out from the ground. You whispered "Thank you" to me, and let out a contented smile as you were cleared from all your sadness.

Dear Child, please remember, you will not be leaving alone. I will be with you, till the execution comes, till the moment when we could no longer exist…

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><p>－End－<p> 


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